Finishing the exposed surface of new paint such as on an automobile, (particularly paint of the type called BC/CC (basecoat/clearcoat) which is a two-part paint system and is commonly used in after market painting of automobiles but also including other types of paint), typically includes (1) initial color sanding which is done by hand using fine grit abrasive (e.g., 1200 to 1500 grit) that provides substantial smoothing or leveling of the paint surface but results in surface scratches from the abrasive grit; (2) one or more intermediate compounding operations in which a liquid or paste rubbing compound containing a finer abrasive is applied by a machine rotated compounding pad having tufts of all wool or a wool and synthetic fiber blend to remove the scratches that result from the color sanding operation, which compounding operation leaves swirl marks on the paint; (3) a machine glazing operation in which a glaze including a yet finer abrasive is applied using a glazing or polishing pad to remove the swirl marks, which machine glazing operation leaves wheel marks that are particularly noticeable on dark color paints; and (4) a final hand glazing operation in which a glaze including an even finer abrasive is applied by hand in an attempt to remove the wheel marks. Often, the hand glazing operation fills some of the wheel marks rather than removing them, so that after a short period of time or when the paint is subsequently washed, the fill in the wheel marks is removed and the wheel marks can again be seen.
One type of pad commonly used for the machine glazing operation has tufts of a finer wool or wool blend than the compounding pad described above, while another type of pad used for the machine glazing operation is a foam pad (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,675) comprising a layer of open cell polymeric foam (e.g., two pound polyester urethane 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick and 15 or 20 centimeters (6 or 8 inches) in diameter) having a planar front surface by which the glaze is applied, and means for attaching a rear surface of the pad to a support surface on a back up pad of a drive unit, which, in at least one known foam pad, releasably attaches to the back up pad to facilitate changing foam pads. While such foam pads can be machine driven and used with commercially available glazes normally used for the hand glazing process (particularly including the glaze commercially identified as "IMPERIAL" machine glaze available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), St. Paul, Minn.) to remove wheel marks on test panels coated with type indicated above instead of using the hand glazing operation, such use of such foam pads presents several problems, including long working time apparently because of the low absorbency of the foam pads. Also, such foam pads have a tendency to sling glaze onto an adjacent area which may already have been finished. Build up of dried glaze on the surface of the foam pad can be deposited on the paint surface, resulting in a smear on that surface; and when the painted surface is almost dry and the final gloss is near, such foam pads have a tendency to grab the paint surface which causes vibration or chatter and operator fatigue.